Since You've Been Gone Read Online Free Page A

desk, rather than on Mr. O’Connor. How could you blame him? I still don’t understand why he’d made Jermaine’s lateness into such a big deal. Lots of other students were being disruptive during class, but they were hardly spoken to.
    At the end of the day, Savitri and I meet up with Keisha in the girls’ toilets on the first floor.
    â€œWhat are you two doing now?” Savitri asks from inside one of the stalls.
    â€œI’ve got to go home,” I reply. Mom will be super worried if I’m late.
    Keisha shakes her head. “Not me. I’m going to the leisure centre until they kick me out. That way my mum can’t stick me looking after my little brothers and sisters for once.” She kisses her teeth, fumbles around in her purse, and takes out a silver tube of lipstick.
    â€œYou got any brothers or sisters, Edie?” she asks, coating her full lips bright crimson.
    â€œNo. It’s just my mom and me.”
    I check out my reflection in the mirror. I left most of my makeup behind in Toronto. Mom and I are sharing hers until we have money to replace it. My eyeliner is faded and I look tired. So much for good first impressions.
    â€œLucky you,” Savitri says as she emerges from the bathroom stall.
    I gasp. Savitri’s long, ebony hair is hidden under a black hijab and her face is devoid of any trace of makeup.
    â€œI know, I know,” she says, rolling her eyes. “My brother Amir and Dad would kill me if they knew what I look like at school.”
    As I walk home after saying goodbye to Savitri and Keisha, I remind myself not to become too attached. After all, things are sure to change. And I need to keep a low profile so that Mom and I will be as safe as possible. I cross my fingers. Please let this be the last move.

CHAPTER 5

    â€œS o, how was it?” Mom asks, her voice floating out from the tiny living room at the front of the flat.
    I slide my knapsack from my shoulders. It hits the floor with a thud. Though the front hall is carpeted, it’s so thin and worn the wooden planks underneath show through in patches.
    â€œIt was okay, I guess.” I walk to the doorway of the living room and lean against the doorjamb.
    My mother’s sitting on the edge of the sofa, an assortment of papers strewn all around her.
    â€œJust okay?” She looks up at me and pats a spot on the sofa beside her. “Come and tell me all about it.”
    The flat came fully furnished, but the furniture is ancient and worn. I wonder if the owner is waiting for it to disintegrate before buying anything new. And everything made out of fabric smells musty, like beach towels that haven’t dried properly.
    Mom shuffles some of the papers into makeshift piles, clearing off a larger space for me to sit.
    â€œSo, how was it, really?”
    I notice the dark smudges under her eyes and the way the skin at the outer corners crinkles like autumn leaves when she smiles at me. She looks older with every passing day.
    â€œIt was good.”
    I don’t want to add to her worries. I sit and tug at the navy tie that is part of our school uniform, trying to loosen its grip on my neck.
    Mom cocks her head sideways and looks at me hard. “Be honest, Edie.”
    â€œIt’s just kind of different, you know? Like, why do I have to wear this tie? The entire day I felt like I was being hung.”
    â€œI think the word is hanged,” Mom says with a laugh. She reaches over, playfully ruffling my hair. I gently swat her hand away.
    â€œHey! Are you too old to be hugged?” she asks.
    I shrug. “No. I’m just so tired of being the new kid. And I wish I understood how stuff works here.”
    â€œThese things take time, sweetheart. You always make friends wherever we go.”
    â€œYeah, just in time to leave again.”
    Hurt briefly flashes in my mother’s eyes.
    â€œI didn’t really mean it,” I mumble, staring down at my hands. God, why